Yesterday I was trying to remember the name of a particular song and I couldn’t think of it, but I knew I would recognize it if I saw it (which I did). What is the neurological process responsible for this type of memory retrieval?

Question

Why did I recognize the song title when I saw it but I couldn’t think of it on my own without that cue?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Your brain also does some tricks to try and help you remember stuff, such as blocking out what it thinks is irrelevant information, which ultimately may or may not include what you are trying to remember. This is why sometimes you can’t remember something until you come back to it later.

For instance I am almost always unable to remember Mark Wahlberg’s name for some reason. It just finally came back to me now.